(a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to kits for the accurate, rapid and sensitive assay of A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1, 9 and 11 antibodies in pig serum for swine pleuropneumonia serodiagnosis.
(b) Description of Prior Art
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is known as one of the most pathogenic agents of the respiratory tract of swine. Swine pleuropneumonia is still an important problem in large swine operations, causing serious economic losses in this industry. Since the presence of A. pleuropneumoniae is often unnoticed in chronically infected herds, the identification of carrier animals is a main concern. Following a stressful situation, several clinically fatal cases may arise in a given herd. Infection in swine can be fatal but animals surviving the infection frequently become carriers. Detection of chronically infected carriers is crucial since those animals act as reservoirs of infection. Since the infection is often unnoticed, serology becomes a useful tool for the detection of chronic infection. Several studies indicate that it is possible to control or eliminate the infection in certain herds based on the serological results.
Various serological assays for A. pleuropneumoniae have been described. Among others, the complement fixation test (CFT), the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); (Goyette G. et al., 1986, Int. Pig. Vet. Soc. Proc., 9:258) and the 2-mercapto-ethanol tube agglutination test (Mittal, K. et al., 1984, Am. J. Vet. Res., 45:715-719) have been used. Out of the different assays, the ELISA is often the most useful since it is faster and easier to perform. On the other hand, up to now, the results obtained suggested the use of a more purified antigenic preparation in order to improve the specificity of the test.
A saline extract of boiled-formalinized whole cells of A. pleuropneumoniae (also called crude extract) is presently used, in some laboratories, as the antigen for ELISA serodiagnosis (Goyette G. et al., 1986, Int. Pig. Vet. Soc. Proc., 9:258). Standardization of the assay is complicated as variations are noticed between extracts.
Using different antigen preparations, cross-reactions among serotypes and with other bacterial species were also reported (Bosse, J. et al., 1990, Can. J. Vet. Res., 54:427-431). Although the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of A. pleuropneumoniae has been shown to be responsible for serotype specificity (Inzana, T. and Mathison, T., 1987, Infect. Immun., 55:1580-1587), the difficulty of obtaining pure CPS in large quantity precludes its utilization for serodiagnostic purposes. The CPS were very unstable and were fixed with difficulty to the walls of the polystyrene plate used in the ELISA assay (Perry, B. et al., 1990, Sero. Immunol. Infect. Dis., 4:299-308).
Serology, which is used to identify animals that have developed an immune response to specific pathogens, is an important tool in disease management and prevention of A. pleuropneumoniae infection in pigs. The importance of serological testing is further emphasized by the lack of a vaccine that reliably prevents infection. The demand of pigs from A. pleuropneumoniae sero-negative herds is increasing, especially from producers whose herds have experienced acute outbreaks of the disease and who have decided to "eradicate" A. pleuropneumoniae, buying only sero-negative animals (coming from sero-negative herds) for the replacement. A successful eradication program depends mostly on the accuracy and reliability of the serological tests used to identify A. pleuropneumoniae infected pigs. Nevertheless, interpretation of serology should be done cautiously. A test that is not sensitive will not detect all infected herds or animals (false negative results) and one that is not specific will erroneously condemn some non-infected animals (false positive results).
Presently, it is impossible to serologically distinguish the infection caused by strains of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 from that caused by strains of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 9 and/or 11. This is due mainly to the 0 chain from the lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which presents common antigenic determinants. The antigenic specificity of A. pleuropneumoniae mainly comes from the capsular polysaccharides, which are not very immunogenic. Purified capsular polysaccharides antigens are very difficult to obtain and, in addition, contamination with non-specific antigen are very common. The distinction between these serotypes (1-9-11) necessitate bacterial isolation. The isolation of the bacteria from chronically infected animals is a time consuming and low sensitive method.
The use of antibiotics is mainly useful to control the mortality, but it has no real benefit on pigs with chronic pleuropneumonia. Treated animals often continue to carry the organism and can be a source of infection for other animals. In addition, an increasing number of strains resistant to different antimicrobials has been observed in the last years in Quebec (Nadeau, M. and Higgins, R., 1991, Bulletin epidemiologique, 2:4-5).
There are some cross-reactions among serotypes; for example: serotypes 3, 6 and 8, serotypes 1, 9 and 11, and serotypes 7 and 4. In addition, other cross-reactions, which are not found in serotyping, could be observed in serological analysis of chronically infected animals that are continuously challenged with the microorganism. These cross-reactions are usually associated with outer membrane proteins (cell wall proteins, iron-repressible proteins, etc.) and rough lipopolysaccharides. However, it is important to remember that one herd, and even one animal, might be infected with several serotypes simultaneously. In this case, the detected antibodies against different serotypes are probably not cross-reactions, but homologous and specific reactions. This is one of the most important problem to be solved by the use of specific and sensitive serological tests in accordance with the present invention.
Healthy carrier pigs may be responsible for the transmission of the disease. The absence of clinical signs and/or lesions at the slaughter-house does not implicate necessarily the absence of the infection.
Following infection, antibodies can usually be detected in 10-15 days. Some animals will remain serologically positive for a few months, but most will be positive for a long period of time; once more, it will depend on the test used.
The proportion of seropositive sows as well as their titers tended to decrease with age.
Isolation of A. pleuropneumoniae from apparently healthy carrier pigs is difficult; it probably should be used as a complement to the serology in conflictive cases.
The development of better serological tests is a necessity because the infection still has an economic impact on the swine industry and the current vaccines are not effective.
To date, there exist no stable kit for the effective serodiagnosis of pig pleuropneumonia in the field.
It would be highly desirable to be provided with a kit for readily determining the presence of antibodies against A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1, 9 and 11 in a serum sample.
It would be highly desirable to be provided with such an ELISA diagnostic kit for A. pleuropneumoniae which could be used for A. pleuropneumoniae serodiagnosis while remaining in the field.